In remembrance of 9 11

13 years ago I was working as a Health Consultant at a consulting firm in Washington Dc. A lot of the companies we represented were housed in the World Trade Center. That morning when I showed up at work my assistant told me a plane hit one of the Twin Towers. We all thought it was an accident. I returned to my desk after getting some coffee and was told another plane hit the other Twin Tower. We then knew it was premeditated. Then at 9:39 that morning the Pentagon was hit. I remember the entire company rushing to the conference room to watch a report from CNN about the bombing, and the president of the company said we could go home if we wanted. The building was empty in minutes. I remember the streets. There were military planes flying over head , and sirens. It was like a scene right out of the King Kong or Godzilla movies, where people were running every which way, trying to get to safety. Trying to get to schools to get their kids. Trying to get home. The busses were packed with everyone trying to get on. Even the trains were packed. It used to take me about 30 minutes to get home from work. That day it took me about 4 hours. I will never forget that. I remember trying to call my mom to tell her I was ok, but the lines were so overwhelmed that I couldn’t get a call through until that evening. I will never forget that day. Nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the attacks.
My thoughts are once again with all those who lost loved ones on that tragic morning. I think about those who were killed, honoring the sacrifices of the first responders, and remembering the spirit of unity that emerged in the aftermath of 9/11.

Happy St Patrick's Day

First Lady Michelle Obama's Vogue Cover

After weeks of speculating (and speculating), the first lady's second cover for the fashion glossy has arrived -- and it's absolutely stunning. As expected, photographer Annie Leibovitz shot Michelle, who wore a blue and purple Reed Krakoff sheath plucked straight from her very own closet. The green background, the cool color palette and the choice to wear Reed Krakoff definitely reminded us of FLOTUS' official portrait. Vogue's fashion editor Tonne Goodman led the team styling Mrs. O and the president, who appears in a photo inside the mag with the first lady. Also in the editorial? A third shot of Michelle wearing an elegant Michael Kors ball skirt and sweater. To accompany the shoot, the first couple was interviewed by Jonathan Van Meter, discussing parenting, marriage and their duties while presiding in the White House. Of course, since this is Vogue, they also talked fashion. “If you’re comfortable in your clothes it’s easy to connect with people and make them feel comfortable as well,” Michelle said. FLOTUS certainly looks comfortable on her new Vogue cover, which includes her three second term signatures: bangs, Reed Krakoff, and, of course, her amazingly toned arms. Last time she covered the style bible, Michelle's designer of choice was Jason Wu -- with another Reed Krakoff pick this time around, it's clear we've entered a new era of FLOTUS fashion. Look out for the April issue of Vogue on newsstands in the next couple of weeks. --courtesy, Huffington Post

First Lady’s Dance Move Goes Viral

 The video featured Jimmy Fallon   dressed as a woman with wig and all, alongside the First Lady both doing what they called, the “Evolution of Mom Dancing,” a dance to promote Obama’s Let’s Move! youth fitness and nutrition campaign.

First Lady Michelle Obama's 2nd Term Official Portrait

The President and his better half at the Inaugural Ball 2013

Throwback Pic of the week

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama with baby Malia

:-)

Hillary Texting Bill

Not behind, but beside, a great man, is a great woman

And The First Lady Michelle Obama is a great woman. 
 





                                          "Being President doesn't change who you are, but it reveals who you are."
                               --First Lady Michelle Obama

Amazing, genuine, heartfelt, incredible, etc.,

                 In one word, how would you describe The First Lady Michelle Obama's speech?

Call it like it is. Racism.

Michelle Obama Undressed: Lost in Translation or Just Racist?

by Althea Legal-Miller



On newsstands across Spain, Michelle Obama can be seen gracing the August 2012 cover of Magazine Fuera de Serie, a lifestyle supplement to the newspaper Expansión. She is seated on a chair draped in the American flag, partially nude in slave attire, complete with one of Aunt Jemima’s chicer headscarves. Perhaps because it seems so obviously offensive, the mind attempts to rationalize; “Did this get lost in translation, or is this as racist as I think?” As a black British woman, born and raised in London, I am acutely aware of other recent European racist train wrecks concerning the representation of black womanhood: the Dutch magazine Jackie “deconstructing” Rihanna’s style under the obscene headline “De Niggabitch” and Sweden’s minister of culture cutting into a cake depicting a caricature of a naked black woman to name but two. Unfortunately, this Michelle Obama/Slave Woman mash-up sees Europe produce yet another epic fail in black female representation.
The magazine cover for the feature article “Michelle Tataranieta De Esclava, Dueña De América” (Michelle Granddaughter of a Slave, Lady of America) is the brainchild of white French/English fine artist Karine Percheron-Daniels. Her mixed-media portrait superimposes Obama’s head onto the famous art-historical body of an African Guadeloupean female slave painted by French artist Marie-Guilhelmine Benoist in 1800.
Percheron-Daniels’ portrait, First Lady, was not commissioned for the Spanish magazine cover, but is part of a larger series of “famous nudes” that includes Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II, Abraham Lincoln, and President Barack Obama. In defense of her controversial series, the artist argues that she offers the viewer an “alternative unexpected reality” that allows us to “view famous individuals in a different way.”
But what does the composite of Obama’s face with the nude body of a nameless slave woman say about the way we have been invited to “view” the first lady and, by extension, black female communities of the diaspora?
According to Percheron-Daniels, her decision to transform Benoist’s black “negress” into Obama was “for obvious reasons” that she chose to leave unspecified. Based on such obvious (read: unchecked racist ideology) logic, Percheron-Daniels vacates Obama, and fills in a 19th century European fantasy, which evokes a black female body that can be dominated and possessed, especially sexually. To add insult to injury, Percheron-Daniels declares in blissful ignorance, “I’m sure Obama would love it, and I hope that someday she can see it.”
Let’s be clear: This image has nothing to do with acknowledging Obama’s enslaved foremothers, and everything to do with reinforcing and extending the historical denial of black women’s individuality and agency. The portrait robs Obama of her identity, voice, and intellect, and visually shackles her to a politically passive subject, resigned to an assigned role as slave. I do not support the censorship of art. However, the mass reproduction of this nude portrait on the cover of a national newspaper supplement is a legitimate concern. Of all the stock images that might have been pulled for the cover, I find the editorial decision to portray Obama as the embodiment of enslavement and colonization extremely troubling. This is all the more perplexing given that this image severely undermines the cover story article, which acknowledges the political significance of Obama and champions her intuitive and intellectual prowess. So sad, then, that this image has in some way become a part of the Spanish popular imaginary.
We must be vigilant. The history of our image in Western art is deeply rooted in representations of our nude or semi-clothed bodies. These images – largely determined by stereotypes used to legitimize racial and gender oppression – speak to a painful history of exploitation and erotic objectification, which continues to manifest in multiple contexts across the black female diaspora.

--courtesy clutchmagazine.com

I am so very offended by this depiction. There are no words. I'm speechless.  I am BEYOND offended.

Love 2 love

I love love, and the idea of it. I love seeing this couple love on each other. I can’t remember any of our past Presidents and First Lady’s ever showing affection. Not even the holding of hands. The chemistry between President Obama and The First Lady Michelle Obama is so strong that even when they’re not touching, you can tell that they can’t want to be alone.

I remember as a child, I so desperately wanted my mother to go out on dates…I wanted a father to do father and son things with , but also, I guess I was in love with the idea of love as a child. I wanted to see my mother be loved the way The First Lady is loved. I wanted someone to look at my mother the way The President looks at his wife.

I'm sure the bottom picture is in my blog a few dozen times.  Every time I come across this picture, it makes me smile. I love how he loves her.

Yeah, they mad

Unless it is mad, passionate love

Unless it is mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it’s a waste of time. There are too many mediocre things in life—love should not be one of them.
--author unknown




Every time I google images for  'black passionate love', this above picture always comes up amongst others and this is the most passionate of the pics I find, time and time again. I know you've probably seen this pic in my blog before,  with other love quotes, but this pic always make me smile.

Picture of the day

Picture of the day

Picture of the day

The First Lady and The President of the United States

What's wrong with this picture?

  Much respect to the First Lady, first of all. There is NOTHING wrong with this picture, at all.
 
  Republican Lawmaker Caught Bad Mouthing Michelle Obama’s Butt

We know it’s election season when a story crosses our path in which a political party member is being called out for butt discussion. That’s what happened this week when Republican Jim Sensenbrenner was overheard commenting about the size of first lady Michelle Obama’s butt during a loud conversation in an airport lounge.
The Wisconsin Republican was talking about buying some “crap” at a church auction when he was approached by a female who praised the first lady. According to Fishbowl DC Sensenbrenner then commend that the first lady should practice what she likes to preach because ”she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”
The Rep. lawmaker was referring to Michele Obama’s “healthy-food initiative” says one of his aides. According to his staffer:
He doesn’t think the government should be telling Americans what to eat. While he may not agree with all of her initiatives, he plans to contact the First Lady’s office to apologize for his comments.”
Sensenbrenner says he will offer a formal apology to the first lady.
In the meantime perhaps he should remember that “when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face you get sprung.”
Seriously though, is this what our political system has become? Apologies for butt jokes about the First Lady? I’m more interested in knowing what “crap” he bought from the church auction to be quite honest.

courtesy-the inquisitr.com

To reiterate, what is wrong with this picture?  He's so used to flat asses that he can't appreciate the curves sistas are known to have.  Let me add--President is a lucky man. Not only is our First Lady attractive, but she is blessed with intelligence and ability.  Also, what kind of man publicly  critiques another mans wife, and in public?

My response to Dr Satoshi Kanazawa's racist comments about black women, Pt 3

this is a repost.